Flask filling apparatus



Sept. 15, 1936.

W. F. PIPER FLASK FILLING APPARATUS Filed Nov. "ll 1955ylllllllllll//l//l/ Patented Sept. 15, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT GFFICEFLAsK FILLING APPARATUS Walter F. Piper, Oak Park, Ill., assignor to TheBeardsley & Piper Company, Chicago, Ill., a. corporation of IllinoisApplication November 7, 1935, Serial No. 48,639

2 Claims. (Cl. 22-36) The present invention relates generally toimprovement upon that which forms the subapparatus for lling flasks withmoulding sand. 'ject matter 0f an application fOr United States Moreparticularly the invention relates to thatl Letters Patent led by meOctober 18, 1934, Setype of apparatus which is designed for use in arial No. 748,795.

5 foundry or like establishment and comprises as Other objects of theinventionV and the various the main 'or essential parts thereof (1) asubadvantages and characteristics of the present stantially cylindricalcasing havinga downwardly flask lling apparatus will be apparent from aextending peripheral outlet and also having in consideration of thefollowing'Y detailed descripone of the end walls thereof an inlet forsand; tion'. Y `v and (2)' a rotary motor driven blade which is dis- Iheinvention consists in the several'n'ove'l fea- 10` posed in the casingand operates during rotation tures which are hereinafter set' forth andare thereof to form the sand inthe casing into wads more particularlydefined by claims yat'the conand to sling or project the wads downwardsclusion hereof. through'the outlet into a flask beneath the casing. Inthe drawing which accompanies and forms In'an apparatus of this type ithas been found a part of this specification or disclosure .and in 15 Ythat during rotation of the wad forming blade which like numerals ofreference denote correa large quantity of air is drawn or sucked intosponding lparts throughout'the several'views:

the casing through the sand inlet and that such Figure 1 is a sideelevation of an apparatus air has a tendency tomake the apparatusexembodying the invention;

tremely noisy and also to aerate the sand in the Figure 2 is a frontView of the casing of the 2oy casing to .such an extent that it will notpackrand apparatus showing in detail the construction and form wads ofthe proper or desired density. arrangement of the hopper for feeding thesand The primary object of the invention is to prointo the casing andalso theconstruction and lovide a ask lling apparatus of the type undercation oi the adjustable counterbalancing means consideration which isan improvement upon for the gate valve; and 25y previously designedapparatus of the same gen- Figure 3 is averticallongitudinal sectionalviewv eral character vby reason of the fact that it inon the line 3'-3of Figure Y2.

Cindes Ineans fOr restriCting 'Or preeluding the The apparatuswhichforms the subject matter sU-Cking 0r draWing 0f air inte the Casingduring of the invention is designed for use in a foundry 30,10tati0n Cfthe' blade and thus Operates with a or like establishment. It'operates,as hereinafter 301 A minimum amount of noise and to form sand wadsdescribed, to ll' asks with moulding sand and 0f the desired density.consists of a casing 4,"a hopper `5 for delivering Another object of theinvention is to provide Sand into the casing, and a rotary blade vl5. ailask filling apparatus 0f the type and Cl'IaIaC- 'Ihe casing 4 issubstantially cylindrical and ter last mentioned in which the casing hasa hopconsists of an annular side wall 'l and a pair of 35v perassociated therewith for directing sand circular or disk-like end wallssl and 9. The threilgh the inlet intO the Casing and the means annularside wall 'l is positioned normally so that fer restrieting 0rpreelllding entry 0f air ntO the its axis extends horizontally. ',It ispreferably in casing during rotation of the blade consists of a the formof a casting and has-a, downwardly ex- 40 gate Valve WhiCh is disposedin the hopper and tending tangentially arrangedA discharge mem- 4o iSarranged s0 that it Opens autOrnatiCallY dllrber I0. The latterconstitutes an outlet for the ing feed 0f the Sand through the hopper t0the casing and is connected by boltsV ll to theupper Casing. Y end of avertically extending Wad directing vtube A further ObJ'eCt 0f theinVentiOn is t0 prOVde l2. The end Wall 8 is formed integrally with andan apparatus Of the type and CharaCter Under serves as a closure for oneend of the annular side 45 consideration in which the gate valve forrestrict- Wall 1 of the Casing The end wall 9 is formed ing OI'preeluding the iOW 0f air inte the Casing separatelyfrom the side wall 1and is removablyV during rotation 0r -riVe 0f the blade is adjustablysecured to the other end of the latter by means of counterbalanced sothat it may be set Yor adjusted a, pair of diametrically oppositeclamping bolts to open in response to any desired pressure of the I3 sothat; upon removal from the side wa11 1' 50 sand. access may be had tothe interior of the casing.

A still further object of the invention is to pro'- AS shown in Figure3',v the end wall 9 supports Vide a flask filling apparatus Wl'iiCh isgenerally the hopper 5 and has in the central portion thereof new andimproved construction and is not only of a sand in1et I4. The hopper 5is formed of f extremely eicient n Yoperation but iS also an sheet metalor anyothersuitable materialV and 5gg.V

Vso

Y' and'supports the blade 6.

;housing of the motor.

consists of a pair of triangularly shaped sides I5 and a substantiallysemicircular inclined bottom I6. It is adapted to receive sand from anoverhead sand conveyor I1 and serves to deliver or supply the sandthrough the inlet I4 into the casing 4. The lower end of the bottom I6of the hopper extends into the central portion of the casing and restsupon an out-turned lip I8 on the central portion of the removable endwall 9 of the casing. The sides I5 of the hopper extend vertically andare suitably secured to the outer face of said end wall 9. The overheadSand conveyor I1 is Yin the form of a. horizontally extending drumsupported endless belt which forms thev adapted to rotate or swingaround the inner periphery of the annular side wall 1 of the casing. Itis connected to a head 22 and a hub 23 for rotation by an electric motor24 and operates duringV drive or rotation to form the sand within the Ycasing into wads and to sling or project these 30v wads downwardsthrough the outlet member ID and the tube I 2 into a flask beneath the'casing 4. Preferably the blade is rotated between 1200 and 1800revolutions per minute. The sand which enters the casing by way of thehopper 5 and the inlet I4 falls into the lower portion of the casing.During operation of the electric motor 24'the blade 6 picks up the sandin the lower portion of the casing and swings it around an arcuate liner25 until the outlet member I0 is reached. During travel around the linerthe sand as the result of the action of centrifugal force and the shapeof the blade is formed or packed into a dense wad of closely packed sandwhich when the blade reaches the member I0 is projected through thelatter and thence down the tube to the subjacent flask. The liner 25fits against the inner periphery of the side wall 1 of the casing andextends from the low side of the discharge member I0 around the sidewall 1 to the high side of the discharge member. The

electric motor`24 for rotating or driving the plate is positionedadjacent to the end wall 8 of the casingV 4 and is secured in place bymeans of bolts 26 which extend through said end wall 8 and the As shownin Figure 3 one end of the armature shaft of the motor projects into thecasing through a hole 21 in the central portion of the end wall 8. I'hehub 23 is mounted on the projecting end of the armature shaft and isdrivably connected to the latter by means of a key 28. The head 22surrounds the hub. It is connected to theV latter by means of bolts 29The motor casing and hopper are supported from above by means ofauniversal joint 30. This joint, as shown in the drawing, extends`between the housing of the electric motor 24 and the distal end of anarm 3| which projects horizontally from, and is secured to the upper endof the frame 20. The joint 30 permits of limited universal movement andenables the operator ofthe apparatus to swing the tube I2 into differentpositions for wad' discharging purposes.

In order to restrict or preclude air from entering. the casing 4 withthe sand va. gate valve 32 is provided. This valve is associated withthe hopper 5 and consists of a sheet metal plate 33 and a horizontallyextending pivot shaft 34'. The shaft, as shown in Figure 3, extendsbetween the upper and inner corner portions of the sides I5 of thehopper and is journalled at its ends in a pair of bearings 35. Thelatter abuts against the outer face of the removable end wall 9 of thecasing 4 and are welded or otherwise xedly secured to the inner faces ofthe hopper sides |57. The plate 33 Vextends downwardly and outwardlyfrom the shaft 34 and is xedly connected to the latter so that it isfree to swing downwards from Y a normal position wherein it closes thehopper,v into an open position wherein sand is permitted to slide orpass downwards along the hopper bottom and thence into the casing 4. Theside edges of the plate are parallel to one another and engage slidablythe inner face of the hopper sides I5. The bottom edge of the plate isrounded and is adapted when the plate is in its closed position toengage the inner face of the bottom I6 of the hopper. shortest distancebetween the pivot shaft 34 and the hopper bottom I6 and as a result theplate cannot swing upwards past its closed position that is upwardsbeyond the position .shown in dotted lines in Figure 3. In ordernormally to return the plate 33 in its closed position, a counterweightis provided. This weight is slidably mounted on an arm 31 which isconnected to one end of the pivot shaft 34 andY extends at right anglesto the latter. Preferably the arm is arranged so that it extendshorizontally when the plate 33 is in its closed position. A set screw 38extends through the counterweight and serves releasablyto hold thecounterweight in place on the arm 31. When the set screw isreleased thecounterweight may be shifted longitudinally of the arm in order to varyits effective weight. When the apparatus is in operation sand isdelivered by the overhead conveyor I1 into the hopper 5. It travels downthe hopper, strikes against and opens the plate 33 of the gate valve andthen enters the casing 4 where it is formed into wads by the blades 6 ashereinbefore'described. The counterweight is preferably arranged on thearm 31 so that the gate swings into its open position only when struckby the sand. When the gate is struck by the sand it will open onlyenough to permit the sand to slide downwards into the casing and thusrestricts or precludes the sucking or drawing ofl air into the casingduring rotation of the blade 6. By restricting or precluding the flow ofair into the casing with the sand, the apparatus runs in an extremelyquiet manner and the sand within the casing is not aerated to such anextent that it will not pack or form wads of the proper or desireddensity. The counterweight 34 is preferably positioned on the arm 31 sothat its movement or effective weight is such that the suction withinthe casing during rotation of the blade 6 is not suilicient to open theplate 33 but the force of the sand striking against the plate issuiiicient. In the event that it is desired to increase or decrease theamount of force that is necessary to swing the plate 32 into its openposition the counterweight is adjusted in one direction or th other onthe arm 31. Y Y

Theherein described flask filling apparatus is extremely efficient inoperation in that it includes Since the valve itself is oi" The plate isslightly longer than the' apparatus with the valve is not materiallygreater than it is Without the valve.

The invention is not to be understood as restricted to the details setforth, since these may be modified within the scope of the appendedclaims without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. In an apparatus for filling flasks with molding sand, the combinationof a casing having an inlet and an outlet, a hopper communicating withthe casing inlet, means for delivering a stream of molding sand into thehopper for delivery to the casing via the inlet, a rotary motor drivenblade disposed in the casing and operative during rotation thereof toform the sand in the casing into wads and project the wads through thecasing outlet, and a pivoted gate valve disposed in and extending acrossthe hopper and arranged and adapted to be engaged and swung by the topportion of the stream regardless of variations in the depth of thelatter and serving automatically to prevent air from being sucked intothe inlet by the blade during operation of the apparatus and delivery ofthe stream of sand.

2. In an apparatus for filling asks with molding sand, the combinationof a casing having an inlet and an outlet, a hopper communicating withthe casing inlet, means for delivering a stream of molding sand into thehopper for delivery to the casing Via the inlet, a rotary motor drivenblade disposed in the casing and operative during rotation thereof toform the sand in the casing into wads and project the wads through thecasing outlet, and an inwardly swinging self-closing gate valve disposedin and extending across the hopper and arranged and adapted to beengaged and swung inwardly by the top portion of the stream regardlessof variations in the depth of the latter and serving automatically toprevent air from being sucked into the inlet by the blade duringoperation of the apparatus and delivery of the stream of sand.

WALTER. F. PIPER.

